It was not how they wanted to do it, but the Parkland Sharks clinched a home playoff spot over the weekend.

The local rugby club defeated the St. Albert Sharks by forfeit to close out the 2019 Edmonton Rugby Union Div II regular season. The win is bittersweet for the club that needed a home playoff berth, but wanted to earn it.

“It surprises us that they weren’t able to get a team together. They have three teams. They have a Div I and Div II team. I don’t know what the mentality was behind the decision,” said Sharks captain Ryan Scarborough. “We like playing in St. Albert, we have a pretty good rivalry going and it was disappointing not to end the season there as we have in the past.”

Now the Sharks turn their attention to the Fort McMurray Knights, who will now have to travel to Ellerslie Rugby Park in Edmonton for the ERU semifinal this coming Saturday at 2 p.m.

Two weeks ago, the Sharks took down the Knights for the first time in club history with a 55-31 win. They are looking to carry momentum from their first win through the semifinal and back into the ERU final. The club fell 26-17 to the Edmonton Clansmen in last season’s Div III final.

“It’s a lot easier on our team to play at home rather than travelling to Fort McMurray. This is a massive home field advantage for us. The fact that we don’t have to go up there is huge for preparation and for our guys to get their heads in the game properly,” said Scarborough.

Parkland finishes the season in second place, with a record of 10-0-2 on the year. Fort McMurray owns an identical record but the Sharks were awarded second place based on their point differential of 393 compared to the Knights 220. The Grande Prairie Centaurs will face off against the Clansmen on Saturday in the league’s other semifinal.

In the meantime, the Sharks will be trying to keep sharp on the practice pitch, after not playing in game action for two weeks.

“They’re our toughest competition, aside from Grande Prairie, but we feel we got that monkey off our backs in the first win and we’re all fully loaded to get that second win and eliminate them from the postseason,” said Scarborough.

Scarborough added the Sharks are not only looking for support from local fans throughout their playoff run, they are also in search of new members for the upcoming season. He encouraged anyone who wants to know more about the Sharks or the sport of rugby to come out to a game and ask questions.